{"id":20611,"date":"2025-01-24T12:43:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T10:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/sec-lifts-ban-on-banks-holding-cryptocurrencies\/"},"modified":"2025-01-24T12:43:00","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T10:43:00","slug":"sec-lifts-ban-on-banks-holding-cryptocurrencies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/sec-lifts-ban-on-banks-holding-cryptocurrencies\/","title":{"rendered":"SEC Lifts Ban on Banks Holding Cryptocurrencies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has repealed <span data-descr=\"Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 \" class=\"old_tooltip\">SAB 121<\/span>. The document effectively prohibited banks from holding digital assets.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Bye, bye SAB 121! It&#8217;s not been fun: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/cIwUc0isUE\">https:\/\/t.co\/cIwUc0isUE<\/a> | Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 122<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Hester Peirce (@HesterPeirce) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HesterPeirce\/status\/1882562977985114185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;Bye-bye SAB 121! It&#8217;s not been fun,&#8221;<\/em> commented Commissioner Hester Peirce.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The decision marks the first significant initiative by the official following her <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/hester-peirce-to-lead-secs-cryptocurrency-task-force\">appointment<\/a> as head of the regulator&#8217;s digital assets task force.<\/p>\n<p>The SEC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/oca\/staff-accounting-bulletin-121\">issued<\/a> SAB 121 in April 2022. The rule required institutions to account for clients&#8217; cryptocurrencies as liabilities on their balance sheets.<\/p>\n<p>In February 2024, four industry organizations <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/us-banks-seek-greater-role-in-bitcoin-etf-management\">appealed<\/a> to the agency to ease the document&#8217;s provisions. Peirce described the Bulletin and related management oral guidance as <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/hester-peirce-criticizes-secs-regulatory-approach\">&#8220;a pernicious weed.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In May, the Senate <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/us-senate-votes-to-repeal-sec-directive\">supported a resolution<\/a> to annul SAB 121. Subsequently, the lower house of the U.S. Congress <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/us-house-of-representatives-passes-crypto-regulation-bill\">passed a bill<\/a>. In July, the House of Representatives <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/us-congress-fails-to-override-bidens-veto-on-sab-121-repeal\">failed to gather<\/a> the necessary two-thirds majority to override the <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/biden-vetoes-resolution-to-overturn-secs-sab-121\">presidential veto<\/a> on this law. <\/p>\n<p>The new Staff Accounting Bulletin issued on January 23 &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/rules-regulations\/staff-guidance\/staff-accounting-bulletins\/staff-accounting-bulletin-122\">rescinded<\/a> the interpretive guidance&#8221; of SAB 121.<\/p>\n<p>Chairman of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/bitcoin-advocate-french-hill-to-lead-us-house-financial-services-committee\">French Hill<\/a> expressed &#8220;satisfaction.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">?Chairman <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepFrenchHill?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RepFrenchHill<\/a>: \u201cFinally, the Biden-Harris misguided SAB 121 rule has been rescinded. Holding reserves against the assets held in custody is NOT standard financial services practice and am pleased this rule was nullified. I applaud <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SECGov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SECGov<\/a> for taking strong steps\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PFz4PKeT2t\">pic.twitter.com\/PFz4PKeT2t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Financial Services GOP (@FinancialCmte) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FinancialCmte\/status\/1882572083877544123?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;Creating reserves for assets in custody is not standard practice,&#8221;<\/em> emphasized the lawmaker.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In a similar vein, the head of the Senate Subcommittee on Digital Assets <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/cynthia-lummis-to-chair-senate-subcommittee-on-digital-assets\">Cynthia Lummis<\/a> commented.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">SAB 121 was disastrous for the banking industry, and only stunted American innovation and advancement of digital assets. I am THRILLED to see it repealed and get the SEC back on track to fulfilling its intended mission. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/KkWQmNDJ8I\">https:\/\/t.co\/KkWQmNDJ8I<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenLummis\/status\/1882579714151530872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 24, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;SAB 121 was disastrous for the banking industry and only stunted American innovation and the development of cryptocurrencies,&#8221;<\/em> she explained.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>On January 23, U.S. President Donald Trump mandated the creation of a task force on digital asset markets.<\/p>\n<p>Within 180 days, the body is expected to develop recommendations for regulatory changes and assess the &#8220;potential for creating and maintaining a national cryptocurrency reserve.&#8221; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has repealed SAB 121. The document effectively prohibited banks from holding digital assets. Bye, bye SAB 121! It&#8217;s not been fun: https:\/\/t.co\/cIwUc0isUE | Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 122 \u2014 Hester Peirce (@HesterPeirce) January 23, 2025 &#8220;Bye-bye SAB 121! It&#8217;s not been fun,&#8221; commented Commissioner Hester Peirce. The decision [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"","news_style_id":"","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1229,36,128,1157],"class_list":["post-20611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-banks-and-fintech","tag-regulation","tag-sec","tag-storage"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"57","promo_type":"","layout_type":"","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}